The Silent Ward

al – Sublevel Access

Siya's chest. The narrow concrete stairwell seemed to shrink the farther they went. Cold air swirled ar

e stairs with slick patches of algae-green. The deeper they went, the more the walls began to change, brick gave way to older concrete, c

s voice betrayed tension. "So, how many places in

nd they're always the one

ow grunt. "

s east wing and the old incinerator tunnel. That space was never officially commissioned, yet the Th

at they'd found in the archives, Siya had no dou

a locking mechanism so old it had rusted int

– ISOLATION

s. "Ever wonder why the words do not op

cause what's behind th

chel and pulled out a sm

und like bone snapping under pressure. A heavy groan

, metallic air

flashlight on a

ntrance Corri

nto the body of someth

flaking in jagged curls. The lights overhead were few, and those that still worked flickered with a dull amber glow.

wasn't just soundproofed," she sai

rm. "And someone though

. The hospital folded it into itself, piece by piece.

was a speaker, no controls, just wiring that trailed into the ceiling. Below it, faint scrat

his eyebrows.

d to the floor, surrounded by mirrors that had been shattered from within

sto

t a reader pad, long deactivated. But the Thr

SHOL

her. "We breakin

on the cold steel.

om – Entranc

rly ten minutes

nges s

sil

aded symbols lined them: spirals, eyes, and glyphs that looked like musical notation gone wrong. At the

was a complex structure of microphones, cables, a

. "What the h

d it," Siya said softly.

the leather. Her flashlight caught a glint of metal on the floor, a small tag, ha

ect:

nce Ac

us:

went

t aloud. "As

echoed in

enched

had opened something. Whatever happened in this r

broke the silence. "Siya..." It was a g

oze. "A

gh the walls like the sound of a subway in the distance.

is gun. "We ne

too silent, the a girls figure slowly lifted her head, with hair hanging

live, barel

d Room –

not from fear, but from recognition, the kind that strikes at t

if shielding herself from some unseen storm. Her hair was long, uneven, and crusted

e bloodshot, sunken, and locked onto Siya

a, but she w

Siya, "She's been dow

hey moved her. Hid her

away as if expecting pain. The resonance from the speakers above grew subt

id softly. "It's Siya. I f

r lips moved. But no sound cam

a singl

un

heart s

it too. "Wha

Siya, but toward the wall behind the

shifted. Its surface flexed, rippling like stretched

s it a break. But a mouth, a spiraling wound in

gun raised. "Wh

and burnt plastic. Siya could barely keep her footing. The spiral of microphone

a scr

rsed itself at once, like a cry looped in on itself thro

d forward.

gether they hoisted Asanda up. Her bo

at it!" Si

widened. Something was

Too many joints. Not flesh, but some kind of obsidian material, glossy and vein

's coming back. Yo

red, froz

piral they'd seen earlier. Th

n!" she shouted. "I

akly. "The floor

small vial of charcoal powder they'd taken from Jacus's room

th shaking hands, began to draw a reverse spiral,

back!" sh

acks. The thing recoiled, but didn't stop. The wall around the mouth bega

ced the

he center of the reversed spiral and the speakers erupted in

ll began to retract

led with a grinding moan, leaving behind only cracked concrete and the faint outline of

rgency beam illuminated only their faces. Asanda's

ered, "We need

Maintenance Tu

r-tunnels. Siya knew the paths vaguely, having studied the

d over: "It's still here... not done.

not just traumatized. She's

. She was a vessel for whatever was behi

m the Threshold Room, th

te Schuur's east wing. A pair of orderlies passed by a

. "No one can know a

ut what do we

now unconscious again,

. "We get her safe. Then we find ou

ent, just a flash, she thought she saw it again: A spiral, etc